The wild horses of Placitas are in the roads and village due to multiple issues, not least of all, lack of population management by the responsible agency. Many, including WHOA, contend this is the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). While predator quotas rise in New Mexico, WHOA’s proactive use of wildlife contraception remains blocked since 2010, primarily by the state of New Mexico. This was long before there was an over population issue, and long before this contraceptive (PZP) was erroneously registered as a pesticide, by the Humane Society of the US and the EPA in 2012. To date there has been no help to remove road blocks (real or created) from any representative, Governor Martinez, or any agency.
There have been 4 accidents to date, killing five horses, and orphaning another, luckily with no loss of human life so far. WHOA has offered a plan to resolve the manufactured over population issue to all the agencies including the BLM,(See below). WHOA and members of the community have also worked together to provide warning signage and to have the Department of Transportation (DOT) provide signage, as well as have the sides of the roads mowed to reduce risk. Incredibly however, the DOT recently removed Wild Horse warning signage installed by Placitans/WHOA.
What is the agenda here? To cause over population, cause a “tradgedy”, turn Placitans against the horses? Effectively punishing Placitans (risking their safety)for fighting for the horses to remain on the “BLM’s public lands”. Is our government ignoring the will and the safety of the people for the sake of gravel mining, and/or an I40 bypass (as requested by Sandoval County in 2008 and planned by the DOT for 20,000 trips per day in their 2001 right of way report)?
WHOA has never advocated to keep the horses in the neighborhoods, or on the roads. WHOA has in fact, fenced them out of neighborhoods in the name of public safety as well as worked to provide proactive contraception. The fencing was effective for many years but without population management, this is no longer effective.
PATTERN OF SILENCE IMPOSED
A meeting was called on June 5th, 2013, by Sandoval County Commissioner Orlando Lucero with some of the many agencies involved, most of which WHOA had also called together to no avail. Unsurprisingly, this meeting held at the Sandoval County Commission meeting room, disallowed public comment. This, is the pattern regarding the Placitas wild horses. The Placitas Area Planning process in 2008 run by Sandoval County, disallowed public comment on horses, and the planned highway through the BLM where the horses live. Likewise, the BLM’s 5 yr plus planning process initiated in 2008 and not yet completed, for the Placitas BLM lands, determined that the horses and highways are “out of scope” of this “public” process, thereby deeming 3000 public comments null and void!
Now, even at this meeting advertised as a “workshop”, a “discussion”, specifically about the horses, public comment was again, denied, while much misinformation went un-corrected.
Hence, the only place that Placitans and the Wild Horses of Placitas (which they overwhelmingly support), have their day, is in court, and in court they are. Please see WHOA’s offer to assist with public safety below.
